Officials immediately dismissed Officer Brandon Yost and suspended Officer Arthur Strong for 30 days without pay. Four other officers and one sergeant involved in the arrest who had been temporarily placed on desk duty were returned to regular duties without penalty.

The action comes in the case of Darrin "Dagwood" Hanna, 45, who was arrested Nov. 6 in his North Chicago apartment, where police said he slapped and tried to drown his pregnant girlfriend. He died in a hospital of multiple factors, according to the Lake County Coroner, including physical restraint and Taser shocks, as well as chronic cocaine abuse, hypertension, kidney disease and sickle cell disease.

His death prompted a public uproar, which led to an investigation by Illinois State Police. The Lake County State's Attorney's office concluded officers committed no crime, saying they acted "reasonably and appropriately" to subdue a large man police said rushed them with clenched fists yelling, "Shoot me."

Yost was fired for repeatedly punching Hanna in the face, which was unnecessary force, and for an unspecified falsification of reports on the incident, interim Chief James Jackson said. Strong's reported use of force, kneeling on the back of Hanna's legs, was considered acceptable, but he was disciplined for falsifying a report by indicating Hanna was swinging a flashlight.

Mayor Leon Rockingham Jr. and Jackson made the announcement at a news conference at North Chicago City Hall, where a crowd of protesters led by civil rights leader Jesse Jackson greeted the news angrily. People in the crowd yelled "cover up" and chanted, "murderers."

"These six officers should be fired and charged with murder," Jackson said.

TheU.S. Department of Justiceis conducting a preliminary inquiry into the case, which is a step short of a full investigation.

Four months after 45-year-old Darrin Hanna’s death sparked public protests against the North Chicago police, the Lake County Coroner has determined that his death was caused in part by trauma inflicted by police and shocks from a Taser, an official said today.

A private autopsy has found that a North Chicago man died from multiple causes that were triggered by a beating, allegedly at the hands of North Chicago police officers, his family’s attorney said today.

North Chicago police have faced blistering criticism since a man died following officers’ intervention in a domestic incident last month, and now a new investigation of the department has been launched after the release this week of a video that appears to show an officer striking a man at the...